Database Info

::::Calling my fellow Android users::::

Okay, here's the deal:
My mother goes to school part time, for her work who requires her too. bottom line is she has like 4 essays to write but one of them i told her - since im an Android junkie - i would give her at least a really good outline for.
Here's where I ask you guys for help, cause I think I have my main points but still maybe you all can put in your main points (two or three) so I can get some other ideas as well.
heres the topic:
Why the Android OS is BETTER THAN the iPhone OS for the ORDINARY CONSUMER.​
So the thing to keep in mind here when I write this is that it is for a normal, everyday consumer.... This is the main reason I ask you guys for input is because it is hard for ME to separate the geeky points from points that the students in her class would see.
Anyways, thanks for anyone who has some input as I need to write a good outline for my mom before she goes into work tonight, again thanks.

Found this while in a os battle with my buddy and his iPhone. This has got 5 good plot points from a user perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WF6M1hy0EE
Sent from Soundwave aboard Nemesis.

Freedom. Want a screen bigger than 3.5"? There's a phone out there. 16gb of storage not enough? Spend 20 bucks more and double your storage with a micro sd card. Want to install an app that isn't on the market? Download another appstore or the apk file itself. Don't want to have to deal with iTunes for music? Congrats, just drag and drop files from any computer or download many different music stores with Android.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium

The single largest freedom an Android device grants a and user is the ability to utilize a MicroSD (or ANY) memory card for expanded or interchangeable memory.
You can unmount and remount sdcards on the fly, so you can change them out without turning the unit off and keep a whole mess of media on a bunch of cards.
(this memory card for Rock, this memory card for Blues, this memory card for action movies, this memory card for etc...)
The greatest hardware improvement over an i-something is the option of a hardware keyboard. You will also never see this on an i-pocket device. This is something we are all familiar with right here moreso then elsewhere and bears no further explanation.
The biggest frustration shed by an end user when leaving the communistic apple universe is ditching iTunes. - No more need be said on that either here, you can fill in the details on that.
Android is encouraged to be used on any device that can be made to run it. iOS runs on 3 (and only 3) pieces of hardware. Android offers users a choice of hardware that fits their needs and budgets, not just a single price point at take it or leave it.
Due to the 'promiscuous licensing' of Android (as steve jobs has been known to say) Android devices can consistently offer hardware that is at least one (if not more) generation(s) ahead of what the single Apple phone offers.
(Android has quad core processors now - what's the iPhone got?)
Bottom line is the two contenders can be summed up quite simply:
Apple = control
Android = freedom
In an Apple ecosystem you can do what Apple says you can do, when they say you can do it, precisely the way they allow you to do it and no more.
In an Android ecosystem you are encouraged to seek innovative ways of doing things and utilizing the hardware and software.
----
A jailbroken i-device still offers less freedoms then a full-security on and locked Android device. So an i-something at it's most open state is still more locked down then an Android in it's most locked state.
----
I don't have any more time and there were quite a few other points I wanted to touch on, but that should be some to get the outline started in addition to what is or hopefully will be posted.
Good luck!

Most android phones have removable batteries so you can always keep a spare on you.
More customizable. You can pretty much change any software aspect of the phone.
There are android phones on many carriers including a lot of prepaid carriers.
Devices running android are generally cheaper than devices running iOS.
Choice of screen size and resolution even up to 720p on phones.
Thought of a couple more. You have a choice of size and also more color choices... You don't just get to choose between black and white because there are so many different colored android powered devices out there.
Hmmm... A lot of other stuff has already been covered, but if I think of anything else I will post it.

for the average user it really is just down to money.
cheaper phones (with way better price/performance ratio) and cheaper/more free apps.
the average joe won't even notice the difference in freedom you can have with android over ios

Go on Rootz. I did a whole did on this. It's Under the username "NomyNomyNomy".
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk

Multitasking is a real nightmare on the iPhone...
I can't stand the fact that I'm flipping through 4 apps at a time
Not to mention the smaller screen and lack of widgets. I also like the app drawer in android, compared to the sliding panes in iOS. It's just easier to navigate through all your apps, instead of flipping from page 1 to 9. Oh, that brings me onto the leap screen, which is a neat little feature to get from one screen to another quickly.

When I used iOS I was Jailbroken and had my iPhone looking like a Nexus S. Also, I had my 3G running Sense 2.1. I liked iOS for the Apps, but Android caught up.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk

Freedom of choice. This is it. There's all sorts of shapes, sizes, options, UI choices; you name it. You want choices? Android's the platform to go to.
Unfortunately, you pay for this freedom of choice for usability for everyday users that don't really care about rooting, SD cards, using something that isn't iTunes for music, and a lot of other things.
Personally, I disagree with you mostly because I deal with all of this nonsense all the time and a normal person won't care to explore the potential of something they have bought, let alone paying more than $50 for something that isn't the O GREAT IPHONE. Great for people like us who care about doing the most we can with what we buy, but most people "can't be bothered" to actually try doing something with the things they buy.

Limewirelord said:
Freedom of choice. This is it. There's all sorts of shapes, sizes, options, UI choices; you name it. You want choices? Android's the platform to go to.
Unfortunately, you pay for this freedom of choice for usability for everyday users that don't really care about rooting, SD cards, using something that isn't iTunes for music, and a lot of other things.
Personally, I disagree with you mostly because I deal with all of this nonsense all the time and a normal person won't care to explore the potential of something they have bought, let alone paying more than $50 for something that isn't the O GREAT IPHONE. Great for people like us who care about doing the most we can with what we buy, but most people "can't be bothered" to actually try doing something with the things they buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not the point though... The outline isn't for what OS is better it's for why android is better...
Also I thought of something else... Most android devices are built stronger than than iOS devices and aren't totally encased in alumina-silicate glass the iPhone uses and when they do use glass it's gorilla glass which is many times stronger than alumina-silicate glass the iPhone uses. So basically android devices can withstand falls better than the iPhone (some being better than others).

Has anyone mentioned, no freakin' back button on the iPhone? I've had a few users complain about that in my presence.... must be maddening!

Limewirelord said:
...
Unfortunately, you pay for this freedom of choice for usability for everyday users that don't really care about rooting, SD cards, using something that isn't iTunes for music, and a lot of other things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you about sdcards, but part of it is also the psychological aspect of "I can!" even if it's never actually done. People like us really get use out of that sdcard slot, but the average joe has the card that came with the phone still in it.
The psychological aspect those same people who can't be bothered to learn anything more then they know about it makes the few distinct things it does different more important to cling to and cry louder in a typical apple fanboi vs average android user comparing phones in a bar or something.
If you paint the average user in the ignorant light that(mostly fairly from what i've seen too, ) you do, then this strawman argument on their behalf carries even more weight, because it's one of their few pieces of ammunition to save face against "O GREAT IPHONE" (lol'd at that btw - it does set the mentality) their actually using it means nothing, it's just the knowledge that they can we care about here.
----
As far as iTunes, I haven't met a single flesh and blood real (not ethereal like all of you online people lol) person that hasn't hated the living daylights out of iTunes.
Again, these are the same types of people that you painted earlier - people that may or may not have an android phone and maybe an ipod touch or something, or an iphone. Their friends might have one or the other of the above devices.
I've heard nothing but the strained frustration of loss from every single one of them to a man (or woman) based on contact with another accounts i-device or host computer...
(...which i'd generally refer to as 'infected' with iTunes on it, because the average user and a foreign i-device = computer owner, device owner, or both losing everything...)
...because these same people that only know what they know and want to learn no more don't even know that you can turn off auto sync and so on, or the rules of when you can or can't connect the devices and not be shedding a tear a few minutes later.
We all either know or would figure out within minutes of opening the app how to handle everything correctly with at least a 90%+ success rate on execution.
The average user? Install iTunes, synce device. 3 weeks later friend comes over. Their i-device gets plugged into the computer. Chaos ensues.
Limewirelord said:
Personally, I disagree with you mostly because I deal with all of this nonsense all the time and a normal person won't care to explore the potential of something they have bought, let alone paying more than $50 for something that isn't the O GREAT IPHONE. Great for people like us who care about doing the most we can with what we buy, but most people "can't be bothered" to actually try doing something with the things they buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And herein lies the rub, because you are exactly right and the scorn you drop here is the exact equal to:
...the person who takes the time learning how to operate a vehicle properly hear someone say " and they asked me when the last time I changed my oil was, and I said 'what oil?' "
tit for tat that's an exact frame of reference to the perspective you cast for consideration, so it really comes down to:
Where is the person who - after doing the most, and also importantly the most common, maximum level of unintentional damage the most upset? Apple or Android?
The iTunes thing I think everyone would agree puts the saddest person in the Apple camp, also since that burns many people very often.

Thanks so much to all who responded!!!! I gave her the link to this thread and "said you can use what you want"
She responded back tonight when I asked her "did the links I sent you pan out?"
She said this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Once again: Huge thanks to all who chimed in, turned out great from the outline she sent me!
If you didn't have the time to get your post up before she finished its alright, I'm overwhelmed myself when I see the amount of attention I got from this community
My mom and I appreciate it and I'm sure someone else may come along and need this thread too, so thanks for that :beer:
Typed by ---- oh wait! I'm schizophrenic!

Education and sharing knowledge is what XDA is built on.
I do not want to see this devolve into a petty apple bashing thread, because there is a real message to be had if we agree with the things mentioned above.
This serves to illustrate the importance of treating new people with the ability to look back to when you were like that.
At some point we all had to decide to see what was a little further down the rabbit hole, but the average person that isn't into computer tech loses 2/3rds of their common sense and IQ the moment they sit down at a terminal.
It's just a pre-concieved fear of the unknown, not knowing what you can't do that results in breaking or just messing the whole thing up.
People that aren't familiar with this stuff can be paralyzed by the fear of doing something catastrophically wrong - often to the extreme. If they show up here and start asking questions, then they are taking steps to conquer that and become that person who changes their oil.
This should serve as a good reminder of what it was like for you, whoever you are reading this, when you first started wondering how to tinker with your device.
Here and there you can see when someone forgets what it was like and loses that perspective - Remember this, though, you no longer respect what you can do if you forget what it's like not to be able to.
Take a minute or have an extra shred of patience when someone new starts asking questions, you could be nurturing someone becoming what you are.
The best place to send anyone new first is right Here.

Little Off Topic but throw Espier Launcher on your phone and you will get a slight sense of how it is to be on ios. It gets horrid. With the loss of freedom.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium

[APP][2.2+] HeavyVision 1.1 - internship project for heavy.com

It's been a while since I posted anything, but that's because I've been really satisfied with my phone (or maybe I'm just losing my adventurous willingness to lose all my data or end up with a brick). Still, I haven't been doing nothing. Instead I've been doing an internship for Heavy.com, which has resulted in HeavyVision.
I'll copy the tagline for you so you'll know if you want to take a look:
"HeavyVision delivers the hottest girls, funniest photos and most insanely awesome imagery from the twisted minds at Heavy.com — the original website for men."
Just to be clear, the editors at Heavy wrote that. It's not really my style. Making cool Android apps though...
Here is the bottom line: please try HeavyVision, report any bugs, and rate it highly.
Thanks for reading.

The Next Big Thing?

Hopefully this is the correct forum for this...
This is right up the XDA alley. Here's a cool new application for innovative developers. It could change the world for consumers, retailers, various industries, police depts, the military... It's a quiet, tiny, robotic dragonfly with HD cameras and numerous sensors. Pretty exciting stuff and has the potential for several new industries and many new jobs.
It can be used for gaming, to guard your home (inside or outside), keep an eye on your crazy neighbor, monitor your child's bike ride to school, real estate agents, auto dealerships, etc. The applications are almost endless. Apparently your android or iphone smartphone controls it.
They're selling various prototypes starting at $119. A software developer kit is available to create your own application. They plan to use the money to make it even better (smaller, lighter, quieter, faster, more efficient). No doubt there will be a huge # of applications in the consumer market in the years to come.
I purchased one and can't wait to start playing with it. Unfortunately there's only a few more remaining...
http://www.indiegogo.com/robotdragonfly

Interesting. Is this legit ?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Yeah, good luck with that. Consider it a tax write-off lmao.
Even to really get one, I'd imagine it wouldn't last long before a bird took it out.....or the gust from a strong fart blew it into the side of the house. You be better off mouthing s tiny camera in a tree somewhere.
If it was easy you'd of hired the guy at Home Depot to to it.

I'm bothered by the idea that it's being promoted as something to invade civilian privacy. Security is one thing, actively going out of your way to invade the privacy and property of others is different.
At 6", I can't believe it's not going to be noticed - wouldn't you notice an unusually large, weird-looking bug ? It's really the size of a bird if you watch it.
I can't imagine people not noticing and not calling the police over it - or simply destroying it if someone decided to use it for that purpose.
Commendable and interesting otherwise, though I also have concerns about flight abilities and stability and such - but would be interested to know more about its capabilities in that regard.

help
Just got the S3, should I have waited for the S4!

Wow that looks so cool but I would love to see it follow me down a downhill track without hitting a tree but still really cool I may think of getting one
skydragon team

i want one

When I want an app to fly I'll make sure to keep this in mind lol

Microsoft Surface Ears, for low volume problems

Hi xda,
I have developed Ears for the Surface family of tablets. It has launched! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1463948377/ears-for-the-surface-tablets
I just want to see what your feedback is. This is my first project/product and if anyone has suggestions, let me know.
I would love to hear what the community thinks!
Thank you,
Brandon
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

lgnationrc said:
Hi xda,
I have developed Ears for the Surface family of tablets. I will launch it Saturday at 9:00am EST (UTC-5:00) on Kickstarter. Right now you can see the Prefundia link: http://prefundia.com/projects/view/ears-for-the-surface-tablets/976/
I just want to see what your feedback is. This is my first project/product and if anyone has suggestions, let me know.
I will post a Kickstarter link when it goes live.
I would love to hear what the community thinks!
Thank you,
Brandon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really enjoyed the story behind your move to China and starting a business in there. I'm sure it will be inspirational for a lot of people!
Regarding the project, it's a good idea, but... here is a big problem I see with it. Your product is catered to a small group of people who bought original Surface RT (probably on fire sale when they drop the price). I know you really like it and still enjoying it, but in a big picture Surface RT (arm processor based, right?) was a huge flop for M$. On top of that, if they decide to release a new version of it and re-design location of speakers, your design will have to be changed.. Do you know what I mean?
Don't take it in a wrong way, I'm just trying to help you out with my opinion (I review a lot of products, see my signature link). The product you come up with is a good idea, but I'm not sure if its suitable for KS or IGG unless you set a low target. XDA is not the best place to promote it; you need to go directly to MS/Surface forums and communities to get a feedback from there and see if people will be interested to buy it. Then, maybe sell it through ebay or Amazon? Of course, I could be wrong, but I just feel the focus of this product is very narrow due to Surface RT being less popular product.

vectron said:
I really enjoyed the story behind your move to China and starting a business in there. I'm sure it will be inspirational for a lot of people!
Regarding the project, it's a good idea, but... here is a big problem I see with it. Your product is catered to a small group of people who bought original Surface RT (probably on fire sale when they drop the price). I know you really like it and still enjoying it, but in a big picture Surface RT (arm processor based, right?) was a huge flop for M$. On top of that, if they decide to release a new version of it and re-design location of speakers, your design will have to be changed.. Do you know what I mean?
Don't take it in a wrong way, I'm just trying to help you out with my opinion (I review a lot of products, see my signature link). The product you come up with is a good idea, but I'm not sure if its suitable for KS or IGG unless you set a low target. XDA is not the best place to promote it; you need to go directly to MS/Surface forums and communities to get a feedback from there and see if people will be interested to buy it. Then, maybe sell it through ebay or Amazon? Of course, I could be wrong, but I just feel the focus of this product is very narrow due to Surface RT being less popular product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM sent and thank you or the feedback!

To add to what vectron said...
My first take on seeing the product was OH LOOKIT A MICKEY MOUSE SURFACE! awww that's sooo cute... I suspect, however, that that isn't the desired effect Surface owners will be looking for. You are looking at your product from a purely functional view. However, consumers place a higher importance on aesthetic and stylistic aspects. From this, you can't pay people enough to use the "ears," let alone thinking of charging for them. Excuse the blunt words, but it's reality.
My second comment is that you need to think of your market, and not yourself, when creating a new product. As vectron said, Surface RTs are obsolete, with a small userbase. If you want to make something like this (ignoring my first comment), then you need a universal-fit model to fit any tablet. There are indeed many mobile devices with backward-firing speakers that can benefit from this.
Non-Apple tablets are very underserved for accessories, especially Windows tablets. If you are that targetting that niche, there are many things to try.
To name one, Windows/Android tablets are always starved for powered USB ports, and I've looked high and low for a suitable battery-powered USB hub to velcro onto the back of my tablet, but none such exist (one did exist, but it's no longer being made). Granted, this is an order of magnitude more complex than the mentioned silicone slip-ons, but there is wide demand for such.
Good luck with your business.

Thank you for the feedback!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1463948377/ears-for-the-surface-tablets

Surface RT and Surface 2 may not be doing well (though there's more than enough customers of them to make something like this work out financially), but the Ears are also available for Pro and Pro 2, and those are pretty popular...

Frankly, for the trivial amount OP was asking, he could well have covered it himself. KS has morphed from its original mission of crowdfunding seed money to be a PR vehicle, as well as feasibility feedback for marginal ventures. This particular is among the latter.
OP's post confirms this, as it was more for PR than getting opinions, since opinions only matter BEFORE committing to a proj, not after. This thing was going live regardless of feedback. Taking OP's KS blurb at face value, my guess is that this is more about the process rather than the end product, ie OP is gathering info for future widgets, presumably via the KS route, and a simple & cheap widget to start was ideal, regardless of its appeal. In short, a dry run.
Extrapolating from the 2-day take, the proj could conceivably make the nominal 5.5K amount ($348 / 2 * 30 = $5220), although normally interest is highest the first few days, then tapers off. But OP miscalculated on the "sweet spot" amount, and the $5 slot (that most backers opted for) is used up. He'll have a tougher time convincing people to pay $10 for the next slot up.
But as said, my impression is the means is the end in this case, and OP is laying the groundwork for more KS ventures. It would be better if the proj gets to its goal, as then he can get more data about the carry-through rather than just the lead-up. But it's not particularly important. He has already gotten a valuable piece of info about how much his widget is worth (about $5 incl shipping).

e.mote said:
To name one, Windows/Android tablets are always starved for powered USB ports, and I've looked high and low for a suitable battery-powered USB hub to velcro onto the back of my tablet, but none such exist (one did exist, but it's no longer being made). Granted, this is an order of magnitude more complex than the mentioned silicone slip-ons, but there is wide demand for such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not a full hub but:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Additions®-Battery-Extender-Batteries/dp/B002PHC1XU
^Battery pack with USB port
USB power injector cable:
http://www.newtech.cat/w/en/1473-USB-2-0-Cable-Double-Power-Injector--2xAM-AH--1-2m.html
Mains powered USB hubs are usually barrel jack connector. USB to barrel jack cables exist to use the above battery pack with a hub directly.
Neither option is the clean 1 piece unit but they are functional if you absolutely require a battery powered hub.

Of *course* the majority of the first 50 backers are going to go for the "get this thing half off" deal. That doesn't mean people wouldn't be willing to pay $10, just that they aren't going to pay 2x as much as they need to...
When I checked last night (midnight on US west coast), there were 0 people at the $10 or $15 levels. Now there are 7 and 1, respectively. That's not huge progress, but it's not bad for 11 hours in the middle of the night for the Surface's biggest market.

>Of *course* the majority of the first 50 backers are going to go for the "get this thing half off" deal.
People don't cost-justify for small amounts. Yes, my $5-ceiling guess looks to be off, and the $10 mark looks to still be under the impulse-spend threshold for the widget. Also, I didn't take into account that KS isn't just about crowdfunding money, but crowdsourcing publicity.
I'd retract my "Mickey Mouse ears = bad" comment. This falls into the "conventional wisdom" category that oddball accessories that clash against prevailing fashion sense are eschewed by the main. I think that still holds, but given the small numbers involved here, this isn't the main. For fringe projects, being unusual and weird is a plus in that it catches people's attention, and the money amount is small enough for impulse buy.
Yes, I dare say that if OP had shaped the ears to be like Mickey's, or Batman's, or a nekomimi shape (as a backer had requested), then the widget would have added "decorative" appeal. It can become a conversation piece. (How about glow in the dark?) Pragmatic concerns like "how does this work with a case" don't come into play until after the purchase, which are irrelevant for impulse buys.
Consumer buying and selling is mainly about psychology, and each platform has its own idiosyncracies. I've not paid attention to KS as a platform, but looks like I'll need to put it on my to-do list.
As said, all this is valuable data for OP as well as anybody who wants to make a go at the crowdfunding route--much more valuable than the actual project itself.

Congrats on passing your goal! Only 1/3 of the way through the campaign, too. I've seen some buzz online about this. Sorry I don't do more social media stuff myself. :-/

e.mote said:
Frankly, for the trivial amount OP was asking, he could well have covered it himself. KS has morphed from its original mission of crowdfunding seed money to be a PR vehicle, as well as feasibility feedback for marginal ventures. This particular is among the latter.
OP's post confirms this, as it was more for PR than getting opinions, since opinions only matter BEFORE committing to a proj, not after. This thing was going live regardless of feedback. Taking OP's KS blurb at face value, my guess is that this is more about the process rather than the end product, ie OP is gathering info for future widgets, presumably via the KS route, and a simple & cheap widget to start was ideal, regardless of its appeal. In short, a dry run.
Extrapolating from the 2-day take, the proj could conceivably make the nominal 5.5K amount ($348 / 2 * 30 = $5220), although normally interest is highest the first few days, then tapers off. But OP miscalculated on the "sweet spot" amount, and the $5 slot (that most backers opted for) is used up. He'll have a tougher time convincing people to pay $10 for the next slot up.
But as said, my impression is the means is the end in this case, and OP is laying the groundwork for more KS ventures. It would be better if the proj gets to its goal, as then he can get more data about the carry-through rather than just the lead-up. But it's not particularly important. He has already gotten a valuable piece of info about how much his widget is worth (about $5 incl shipping).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to get into conflict here but I want to say that this KS campaign was all about raising money and this thread was all about getting feedback. Since I have no money to produce these myself, this project would have never happened if the goal was not met. Period. I don't see the point to continue to put money into a project or business venture if people are unwilling to buy it. The whole point of Kickstarter. It doesn't make good business sense to me to continue to pour funds into a dying/dead business. There has to be an exit strategy. Mine was, if Kickstarter didn't meet the goal, the project will stop.
And no, no future Kickstarter projects planned. Personal I prefer to deal with angel investors. Yes, I have more projects and business' planned for the future, but none on Kickstarter for the foreseeable future.
I wanted more sound on my Surface, I thought the Surface crowd would share the same feelings as me, I have to put food on the table. Lets make a business!

GoodDayToDie said:
Congrats on passing your goal! Only 1/3 of the way through the campaign, too. I've seen some buzz online about this. Sorry I don't do more social media stuff myself. :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! A much followed writer for Cnet Twitted about Ears and my project took off! It is back down again but I reached my goal. Surface owners are so far and few in between and Ears are very niche, so it is hard to get through to enough people. But it has been exciting to watch my project go.
Thanks!

Vivo Nex S related news and discussion thread

Hello everyone, i thought to create this thread in order to discuss information about this awesome device
please post relevant news you find in here

Vivo Reveals Its TOF 3D Sensing Technology At MWCS 2018
Vivo has just revealed its Time of Flight (TOF) 3D Sensing Technology and MWC Shanghai 2018. Vivo is actually promising a paradigm shift in imaging, AR, and human-machine interaction with this technology, which is a rather significant promise by the company. The company’s TOF 3D Sensing tech detects the time it takes emitted pulse light to return to the sensor in order to accurately map objects at up to three meters in from of it, says the company.
Now, Vivo says that this technology could make strides in facial, gesture, and motion recognition, while the same goes for 3D photography and AR (Augmented Reality). Vivo says that its TOF 3D Sensing Technology brings to the tablet industry-leading performance in depth of information, as it is capturing such info with 300,000 sensor points, and the company says that beats Structured Light Technology 10 times over. Vivo believes that its new technology will enable a much broader application for 3D sensing technology in general, and with so much more sensor points than the Structured Light Technology, it may become more useful, that’s for sure, though it remains to be seen if it will be as ground-breaking as Vivo hopes it will. The company believes that with some help from AI, TOF 3D Sensing Technology will be able to beautify a photo on its own, based on the image of a person who is in a photo, by scanning that person. Trying different clothing options virtually thanks to this tech will also become available, while this tech will also be able to track gestures for mixed reality (MR) games.
These are just some examples that Vivo gave out, but by combining TOF 3D Sensing Technology with AI, there are a number of applications that can be achieved. TOF 3D Sensing Technology is Vivo’s latest announcement, but the company actually announced a rather interesting smartphone not long ago, the Vivo NEX. The Vivo NEX is a smartphone which comes with over 91% screen-to-body ratio, and it sports a pop-up camera. This smartphone is made based on the Vivo APEX concept smartphone, and in addition to a pop-up camera, it also comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, and a rather interesting replacement for an earpiece, click here if you’d like to know more about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Vivo Nex teardown showing the camera mechanism
you will notice strong similarities with the OnePlus 6 teardown and even the mechanical part pushing the camera is similar to the OP6 lever for the mute button, the OP6 is more tidy overall but i guess this is an effort to appease it's worldwide audience
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
https://www.myfixguide.com/vivo-nex-teardown/
Nex
OnePlus 6
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/OnePlus+6+Teardown/109826

First details review from tech site.
https://www.androidauthority.com/vivo-nex-review-875140/
Vivo Nex review: Frustratingly imperfect, undeniably desirable
Pros:
Futuristic bezel-free design
Solid OLED display
Competitive camera
Excellent performance
Eye-catching camera mechanism
22.5W fast charging support
Really good wired audio
Cons:
Problematic software
China-only release
Under-performing battery
Unreliable fingerprint scanner
No IP rating, NFC, wireless charging
Well as everyone imagine i'm not surprised from their observation.
Really good hardware with problematic software experience.
One nagative that didn't expect was that AOD does not support third party app notification but only limited stock app.

paatha13 said:
....
One nagative that didn't expect was that AOD does not support third party app notification but only limited stock app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's just not true. He simply didn't manage to find the right setings to make it work. I have my push notifications working fine for Whatsap, messenger, mail and a few others. You do however have to turn the push notification app's one by one, but you only do it once.
The same thing goes for the launcher. After you manage to create a VIVO account you can install nova launcher (or any other) and it will work perfectly (mine already is).

DrG0nz0 said:
That's just not true. He simply didn't manage to find the right setings to make it work. I have my push notifications working fine for Whatsap, messenger, mail and a few others. You do however have to turn the push notification app's one by one, but you only do it once.
The same thing goes for the launcher. After you manage to create a VIVO account you can install nova launcher (or any other) and it will work perfectly (mine already is).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you know that a lot of us we are not from China and activating an account is painful with current situasion.
We don't have chinese number to do that.
I'm familiar with chinese OS like MIUI and i know to setup it but that doesn't change the complicated chinese skin it's far far away to more simplify stock or near stock experience like Oxygen.

paatha13 said:
Well you know that a lot of us we are not from China and activating an account is painful with current situasion.
We don't have chinese number to do that.
I'm familiar with chinese OS like MIUI and i know to setup it but that doesn't change the complicated chinese skin it's far far away to more simplify stock or near stock experience like Oxygen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never said it was easy! I'm Portuguese, living in Switzerland, so no chinese contacts from my end xD
Try to enter some foruns, meet someone, maybe look around in your nearest University ESN (erasmus student network). After a few days looking online I found a guy that did it for free, 5min in a chat room with him to give me the code was all it took.

DrG0nz0 said:
I never said it was easy! I'm Portuguese, living in Switzerland, so no chinese contacts from my end xD
Try to enter some foruns, meet someone, maybe look around in your nearest University ESN (erasmus student network). After a few days looking online I found a guy that did it for free, 5min in a chat room with him to give me the code was all it took.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually in my city there's many chinese resident living and working and many many tourists coming also but it's kind frustated to involve to such situasion with people that don't know for just activate a chinese vivo account
Good idea university but it's many years since graduate.

paatha13 said:
Well actually in my city there's many chinese resident living and working and many many tourists coming also but it's kind frustated to involve to such situasion with people that don't know for just activate a chinese vivo account
Good idea university but it's many years since graduate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once again, never said it would be easy :laugh:
Just think that you will never see that person again, whatever the answer is when you ask them to. If it works, great. If it doesn't, better luck next time and move on. It's just all about how bad you want to get rid of the chinese blootware and launcher that comes with the phone.
No matter how many years you graduated, it's easy to do a quick search in facebook for "ESN 'yourUniversity' " and try to ask someone for a favor in exchange for a couple of beers. You would be amazed how many great people exist

Regarding that android authority battery under-performing critique. I wonder if the fps activation sensor constantly polling for phone movement has an affect on battery.
Is there a setting to deactivate the motion sensor system and just use power button to wake fps activation? I know it's still new, but could those with the phone try it and see if there's battery improvement?

monoke said:
Regarding that android authority battery under-performing critique. I wonder if the fps activation sensor constantly polling for phone movement has an affect on battery.
Is there a setting to deactivate the motion sensor system and just use power button to wake fps activation? I know it's still new, but could those with the phone try it and see if there's battery improvement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah,you can toggle the always-on FPR ( SETTINGS > FINGERPRINTS & PASSWORDS > UNLOCK > Show fingerprint icon when screen is off )
Too soon to do a real battery comparison,perhaps someone else will monitor the battery stats.
I stopped worrying about battery life years ago,haven't felt the need to take any extraordinary measures to get through the day with plenty to spare on a LOT of different phones.

KOLIOSIS said:
Yeah,you can toggle the always-on FPR ( SETTINGS > FINGERPRINTS & PASSWORDS > UNLOCK > Show fingerprint icon when screen is off )
Too soon to do a real battery comparison,perhaps someone else will monitor the battery stats.
I stopped worrying about battery life years ago,haven't felt the need to take any extraordinary measures to get through the day with plenty to spare on a LOT of different phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep exactly with majority of modern device last 2 years will get satisfied battery life through all day except if you are playing games all hours or continuous uses mobile data and GPS.
Don’t we all forget that at the end of day all of us charging the device to next day.
No matter you got 20 or 40% battery left at end of the day, you always charge the device for next day of usage.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

monoke said:
Regarding that android authority battery under-performing critique. I wonder if the fps activation sensor constantly polling for phone movement has an affect on battery.
Is there a setting to deactivate the motion sensor system and just use power button to wake fps activation? I know it's still new, but could those with the phone try it and see if there's battery improvement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that settings exist. Actually, you would be surprised about how much they actually let you costumize all the actions and buttons, similar experience in that field to Cyanogen.
Regarding the battery drain, I haven't felt it yet....a good intensive use of the phone brought it to 30's% at the end of the day, wich is fine by me.

Newl fresh arriva detail review from GSMarena.
https://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_nex_s-review-1785.php
Pros
Futuristic nearly bezel-free design
Innovative and entertaining motorized selfie camera and under-display fingerprint solutions
Amazing 6.59-inch notch-free Super AMOLED display
Great battery life, fast charging
Very loud speaker
Good audio quality
A lot of value-added features in Funtouch OS
Good, if not really impressive, image quality
Cons
No ingress protection rating
No expandable storage
No NFC
No wireless charging
Very unreliable performance on the under-display fingerprint reader
Funtouch OS is badly organised, chaotic and difficult to use. Many features are not regionalized
The camera has noticeable issues with noise, especially in low-light conditions
No [email protected] or [email protected] video capture

EDIT: re. review quote below - see post above for the link and further info
Sadly, in its current state, Funtouch OS will keep us from recommending this device. We can liken the experience to climbing aboard a fancy, futuristic alien spaceship, only to quickly discover your inability to operate it properly and likely quickly crashing into a tree.
Perhaps, after a few software updates, or a proper international ROM release. Perhaps, once a second revision comes along. One thing is for sure, the vivo NEX S might be first in many respects, but it likely won't be the last.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Echoing several of the other early online reviews. Amazing hardware and engineering, let down by an (by Western standards) obnoxious OS and interface. I continue to be of two minds...

emilrune said:
EDIT: re. review quote below - see post above for the link and further info
Echoing several of the other early online reviews. Amazing hardware and engineering, let down by an (by Western standards) obnoxious OS and interface. I continue to be of two minds...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes unfortunately I knew from beginning before read all those reviews that Funtouch OS will be the No1 issue with Vivo.
Especially for western standards.
This heavily ios inspiration skin is totally frustrating.
Fortunately I'm familiar with the very closely to Vivo OS MIUI skin from Xiaomi and with third party launcher and some tips I can deal with it.
I really appreciate that Vivo offers gesture navigation and on screen and off screen gesture as Oxygen does.
But again i wish Vivo followed more stock experience like for example Oxygen OS
Hope future software update improved a little bit total experience.

The nex should be available in Hong Kong in July. It would have an international ROM.

kwongwt said:
The nex should be available in Hong Kong in July. It would have an international ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If international rom meaning more closed to stock UI it's very welcome.
Otherwise if it is only few bloatware app less than Chinese rom and few more western language support doesn't make any different to Chinese.

I am not sure about this. I didn't make it.
But I am quite sure that the UI will be the same, with full English menu and Google preinstalled.

kwongwt said:
I am not sure about this. I didn't make it.
But I am quite sure that the UI will be the same, with full English menu and Google preinstalled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's will be eventually the only differences between 2 version at the end and nothing more special.